WILDLIFE -- With no large predators, the elk roaming Theodore Roosevelt National Park have been too much of a good thing in North Dakota.

Volunteers help park managers by stepping up to kill 462 elk in the park this fall during  the second year of the effort to drastically reduce the elk population.  Last year they killed 406 elk in the park.

According to a story by Brett French of the Billings Gazette, the goal is to have a herd of 100 to 400 animals to lessen competition for forage among elk and other wildlife in the park, like deer, bison and feral horses.

What's in it for the volunteers?  Satisfaction of hunting in paradise and a lot of hard work backpacking out the game in a park that forbids off-road travel. 

Although the volunteers get a portion of the meat for their work, most of the meat is donated to area Food Banks, which are enjoying the windfall:  The Park Service has donated about 20,000 pounds of meat to the needy plus 25,000 pounds to area Native American tribes.

Volunteers will be able to apply this summer for the fall 2012 work on the park’s website.